I think that more and more of the differences between right and left in this country today is composed of the dichotomy between idealism and realism. Neither side is purely in one camp or in the other — many of Bush’s plans for the future of the Middle East are idealistic, for example — but the left seems to be more and more interested in putting their fairly arbitrary ideals into action. An excellent example of this is the report discussed in this article about Harvard (which appeared on Power Line the other day. The completely random and arbitrary attempt to enforce an ideal in a completely strict and unyielding manner, while completely ignoring outside factors that contribute to fluctuations in the system being regulated would be amusing, if it weren’t so completely sad.
And people wonder why tuition costs keep climbing.